Fire door



S. P. SMURR July 31, 1934.

FIRE DOOR l Original Filed Oct. 22. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l S. P. SMURR July 2.1,v 1934.

FIRE DOOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Oct. 22. 1927 Patented July 31', 1934 FIRE Doon 'Samuel P. Smurr, `Oak Parlnllll., rassignor, Vby

- mesne assignments, to` Majestic4 Rolling Door Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of` Illinois Original f application i yOctober 22, l1927 1, Serial No.YA 227,876,1now Patent No.ff1-,843,633,fdated Febffruax-.y 2; 1932. Divided =and this `application April 7, 1930, :Serial Nor-142,273. Renewed December 22, 1933 f 9 claims. 'torito-Agee)` My invention relates to fire doors of the rolling "1l-shutter type; and-has for its object improve- Mfmentsin devices of thatV kind. The present invention is a division of mypending applicationSerial-No. 227,876,1iled October 22,

*1927; and-has Ato -do particularly with `the spool i i-upon which the curtain is wound.

re curtain is `composed of metallic slats y i *which are pivotally connected to each other. V These slats are provided with end locks to prevent the slats frorn slipping longitudinally with`- respect to'each" other; These end locks are `separate pieces riveted tothe slats and are thicker f than the slats to which they are connected. VWhen a` curtain is wound `upon a barrel, the endlocks pile upon each other. In this piling operation, there is a tendency for each successive end lock, when it comes upon onebelow it, to shiftV or slip endwiseon the barrel and carry the curtain with it;l This tendency increases with repeated coil-- fings ofthe curtain on the barrel.

" Whenthe'curtain is guided by thesupporting brackets, as-is the ordinary practice, `this shifting ofthe curtain vcauses the outer layersl onthe barrel to come into frictional contact with'the inner face* of one Vor the `other of Vthe brackets, and

friction ofthe moving curtain on the stationary l bracket tends to interfere with the freerno'veimentof thecurtain.` The principal object of the 130 present invention is to put the curtain guides on' fthe barrel andthuslavoid the 'frictionmentioned In the accompanying drawings 1 is an endielevation of the complete dee `vicesecuredto `a wall and with the curtain or shut- Y v ter rolled up;

i fFig. 2 isa front elevation partly broken away; w

Fig.` 3is acentral longitudinal section of the 4operating parts, but with the curtain removed;

\ H Fig. 4-is a front elevation of the curtain sup-x` *porting spool*` detached; together with oneslat ofy `the curtain resting on thespool;

Fig. 5 isa transverse section of thespool atan;`

enlarged scale and showing-the first or top "slat of the curtain connected thereto; and mFigp-Gisan@ elevation of Fig. 5. Secured to the wall 11 at each side of the doorway are certain angle irons 12 which furnish guide slots for the edges of the curtain, and secured to the upper ends of these angle irons are brackets 13 which support the working apparatus. On the brackets 13 is a hood 14 which encloses the parts between the brackets.

Supported in roller bearings 13a in the brackets is a curtain-carrying spool composed of gears 15,

i, a barrel 16 and curtain-holding collars 17. The

'is another collar 21.

- ters.

barrel is secured to-theinner hubs of `the gears f by the screws 18, and the entireispool is supported bythe outer hubs of said gearsresting in the bearings 13a of thebrackets 13. v

f Supported `to turn in the hub of the left hand'ro gear 15 is a shaft 19, one end of `which extends beyondthe bearing to the left, and the other end of which terminates inside of the barrel short of the hub of the gear 15 at the right. Secured to the inner end of the shaft 19 isl a collar 20, thepurfjV a5 pose of which is toretain the shaft centrally in the `barrel when'one turns with respect to the other.

Secured to the shaft 19 4adjacent to the collar 20 A spring 22 has one .end y'm securedto the collar 21 and the. other end secured to thehub 23 of the'leftlhand gear 15.` A spacing tube24.surroundstheishaft 19 and is located between the icollar 21.and thehub 23. Its purpose is to stretch the spring 22 so` that its coils vwill 1101275 be in contact with `each other.k It will be evident that'thezspring 22may be Wound or unwound by holding the barrel :stationary and turning 4the shaft, or by holding` the shaft stationary and turning the` barrel. Y 1', .80

Secured to the outer end oftheshaft 19 is an index `plate 25.;` havingA a long hub 26, the outer surface of which is threaded. On-the outer edge of the plate 25 are bosses26a which are drilled,

tapped and countersunk.` In one of these bosses` is a screw 27, but thebosses are all alike so that 'thescrew27 may be inserted in any one of them.

Pivotcd at28 on the left hand bracket 13 is a lever 29, providedlwith `a weightV and connec-l tions to a chain having a fusible link therein, as is ordinarily the case with automatic rolling shut- The. lever 29 is provided with means for engaging anyone bosses 26` as is set forth in my `previous application,` the `details of which are vnot necessary to an understanding ofthe present invention. Y

r Mounted upon the threaded hub ofthe index `plate 25 vis a gear 3-7 having the `interior of its szhubcthreaded to match the threads onthehub Vv of the index plate. It will be evident that when either the gear 37 or the index plate is turned with respect to the other, the gear 37 will travel axially inward 0r outward according to the direction in which the turning occurs.

On the upper part of the left hand bracket 13is a boss which serves asa bearing for a short shaft 40, on the ends of which are secured pinicns 41 and 42 which engage gears 15 and 37. The gears and pinions are of different sizesmlo so that when gears 15 and 37 are both moving, gear 15 has a less angular velocity than does gear 37. i

The collars 17 are made in halves and are clamped to the barrel 16 Yby bolts 43. This is so that these collars can be put on or removed from the barrel 16 after it has been secured to the gears. The collars form the direct means for securing the curtain to the barrel.

The two halves of a collar, when secured in position, have their outer surfaces forming a spiral, the step of which is at the middle of onehalf as shown in Fig. 5. At the point where this step occurs is a' boss 44 for receiving a screw 45, and on each side of this boss arenotches 46 and 47 for receiving the flanges of a channel 48.

The curtain is made of a series of similar slatsl hinged together, the upper slat of which is shown at 49 in Figs. 5 and 6. The parts are so arranged that the bend which forms part of the hinge connecting one slat to another, in the rst slat of the curtain,`f1ts into the space between the boss 44 and notch 47, and is held in place by the channel 48 serving as a clamp actuated by the screw 45.

Slat bearing rings with spiral contour have been used before, but I do'not know of such rings being made in the form of collars which can be put upon or removed from a barrel when that barrel is supported in its bearings. Also, heretofore, the top slat has been secured to the rings by screws passing thru holes drilled in the slat and tapped in the ring. Such construction is not interchangeable. By clamping the collars in any convenient position in line on the barrel, and clamping the rst slat of the curtain to the collars, the curtain may be adjusted longitudinally on the barrel without the drilling of holes. Also, there is simplification in erection and repairs.

Referring to Fig. 4, it will be seen that the slats of the curtain rest upon the edges of the collars 17 as shown at 56. The end flanges of the spool are formed by the gears 15 which have their inner faces slightly beveled as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. This bevel corresponds to the bevel on the flanges of a spool used for thread, but is very much less in extent. The length of the slats which form the curtain is a little less than the distance between the gear flanges 15, andthese flanges serve as guides to prevent the edges of the curtain rubbing against stationary guides or the inside faces of the brackets when being raised or lowered. In automatically operated curtains of the kind here involved, it is important to avoid stationary lateral guides for the edges of the curtain, as the friction caused by lateral strain may prevent the, curtain from falling in case of a fire.

When the spring is wound, the parts are locked by the use of the lever 29 and the chain with a fusible link. In this condition, the connection between the shaft 19 and the barrel is by way of the index plate, and gears 27, 42 and 41 to the gear teeth on the left hand ange 15'. When a fire occurs, the lever 29 releases the index plate, and the spring 22 acts thru the gears to -move the curtain downward in the manner described my previously mentioned application.

What I claim is:

l. In a device of the class described, a Curtain-carrying spool consisting of a barrel, flanges secured to the ends of the barrel, and spiral curtain supporting collars mounted upon the barrel and providing means for clamping the upper terminal slat of a curtain.

2. In a device of the class described, a curtaincarrying spool consisting of a barrel, beveled flanges secured to the ends of the barrel, one of which flanges serves as a means for driving it, curtain supporting collars formed in halves and clamped tothe barrel between the flanges thereof, and curtain-clamping means associated with said collars and serving to clamp and hold the upper terminal slat of a, curtain.

3. In a device of the class described, a barrel upon which a curtain may be wound, flanges secured to the barrel and turning therewith, said flanges serving to guide the edges of the curtain while said curtain is being wound and unwound, and means for turning said barrel by the application of power to one of the flanges thereof.

4. In a device of the class described, a spool consisting of a barrel and a pair of gears having hubs extending into the barrel and secured thereto and externally projecting hubs serving as journals to support the barrel in bearings.

5. In a device of the class described, a spool consisting of a barrel and a pair of interiorly tapered iianges secured thereto, said flanges having exteriorly projecting hubs serving as journals to support the barrel in bearings and one of said flanges provided with means for driving said spool.

6. The combination with a pair of brackets furnishing bearings, of a curtain-carrying barrel supported to turn in said bearings, said barrel` being provided with curtain guiding flanges secured to and turning with the barrel, and a driving connection supported in one of said brackets and serving to convey power from outside of the brackets to one of said flanges.

7. A barrel, a plurality of collars mounted upon said barrel, said collars having their exterior-s in theform of equal spirals about the axis of the barrel as a center, and a bar extending across the collars at the terminals of the spirals, said bar serving to secure the terminal Apart of a curtain to the collars.

8. A barrel, a, plurality of collars mounted upon the barrel, said collars having alined notches in their exterior surfaces, and a bar secured to said collars at their notches, said bar serving to clamp the terminal part of a curtain to said collars.

9. A barrel, a plurality of collars formed in halves and clamped upon the barrel, said collars having alined recesses in their exterior surfaces,

and a bar located in said recesses and secured to said collars, said bar serving to secure the ter- 4minal part of a curtain to said collars.

SAMUEL P. SMURR. 

